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Armine’s Bio

ARMINE IKNADOSSIAN fled Beirut, Lebanon for Pasadena, California with her family in 1978 to escape the civil war. She spent her childhood avoiding indoctrination from evangelical Christians and watching after her twin sisters, which is also the primary reason she has chosen to remain childless. After earning her BA from UCLA, she worked as assistant editor to syndicated columnists Arianna Huffington, Robert Scheer and Moly Ivins. Armine’s teaching career took over for the next 20 years, during which time she served as a recitation coach for Poetry Out Loud’s National Recitation Contest. She later earned her MFA in Poetry from Antioch University, Los Angeles during which time her mentor Richard Garcia nominated Armine for a writing fellowship at Summer Poetry in Idyllwild. The Los Angeles Writing Project at Cal State LA also awarded her writing fellowships where she also serves as a writing consultant. In 2015, Armine retired from teaching in order to support the literary arts and focus on her two manuscripts god(l)ess: The L Is Silent and Resident Alien. She is currently one of the bookstore managers at Beyond Baroque Bookstore aka The Scott Wannberg Poetry Lounge where you can purchase her newly released chapbook United States of Love & Other Poems. She looks forward to serving as a Writer in the Schools (WITS) for Red Hen Press this fall.
Awards:
“The Return” was a finalist in Backwards City Review’s annual contest.
10,000 copies of “March Eulogy” were printed by the City of Los Angeles and distributed by Max Racks thanks to The Writers at Work Postcard Project.
“A New Year” appears in the 2011 Writers at Work calendar.
Fellowship, Summer Poetry in Idyllwild 2007
Returning Fellowship, Summer Poetry in Idyllwild 2008
Publications:
Alabama Literary Review
Ararat
Arbutus
Cloudbank
Common Ground Review
Edge
Inscape
Lounge Lit: An Anthology of Poetry and Fiction by the Writers of Literati Cocktail and Rhapsodomancy
Margie
The Northridge Review
Pearl
Poetic Diversity
Poets Against War
Rhino
Spout
Weave
Wisteria: A Collection of Work by New Poets in Los Angeles
Writers at Work
Zaum
Freelance work:
Modern Drummer Magazine
TOM TOM Magazine
The Armenian Reporter
Media Cake
rekwired.com

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Category: Poetry

Rise Up Review is a landing site for the poetry of opposition. We feature a new poem each day dedicated to making the political personal and vice versa. The poems on Rise Up are meant to be disseminated like manifestos. In that regard, the daily poem is featured as a JPEG on the home page, which makes for easy sharing. William Carlos Williams says that “it is difficult to get the news from poems, yet men [and women] die miserably everyday for lack of what is found there.” Poetry has the ability to address injustices and oppression in a manner that is both lyrical and intimate. The best such instances of this power avoid the didactic, because we learn about human evils and frailties, human love and strength, from the stories we tell. Poetry is a hammer is a flame is a rebel flag is an olive branch. We proffer it to you.

Like this:

Thanks to Terry Wolverton and Writers at Work, this Postcard Poems project is a blast form the past, but poetry is also timeless, not linear, and time is not linear either, so to look back on this poem as a bit prophetic (morbidly) makes me rethink how this mortal coil unwinds. (Click on photos to enlarge.)Truly uncanny….my auntie Astrid died on March 16…do the math.And of course the number 3…always the 3.

Like this:

California Love Poem

Armine Iknadossian

The sun has an orgasm across the valley
as Pasadena opens up in front of me,
the Suicide Bridge pushing an arm out
of green sleeves, orange blossoms keening
after a mid-spring heatwave,
the Rose Bowl yawning in a ravine.

It is not enough to love the one you love,
to drive toward the ocean just to fall
into bed with them, then return home
alone, drowsy from no sleep and sex in a strange bed.
You want to keep driving East toward
black rocks and tarantulas of Nevada

or South toward the unilateral mirage of water
where the Salton Sea groans in her deadwood hammock.
On a map, California looks like she’s hugging the continent
and Nevada is leaning in for a deep kiss.
She is tentative, he is a sharp-tongued,
diamond-studded menace, kissing her
and at the same time, pushing her into the ocean.

Spread the Love

Like this:

I’ve been tagged by the illustrious Armenian-American poet, Ms. Lola Koundakjian, to do an interview for an expanding blog called, “The Next Big Thing.” Lola was tagged by another writer, and you can read Lola’s interview at http://lolakoundakjian.blogspot.com/ The idea is that I tag other writers to do the same. I accepted the invitation because it will force me to re-evaluate my unpublished manuscript while hopefully serving other writers in the process. Lola is a good example of a writer who is always busy writing, publishing, curating. Her practice is one I can learn a lot from. Who’s to say what can happen if writers around the globe agreed to participate in “The Next Big Thing,” answering the same questions about their work? I suspect there is a lot to learn from one another.

Now, the interview:

TNBT: Where did the idea come from for the book?

I suppose the confusion of being exposed to Judeo-Christianity from a slightly extremist group of evangelists who put the fear of God in me spurned thematic questions and lifted the resentment right out of my memories and onto the page. Let’s just say God and I are still getting to know each other, on better terms. I suppose our conversation is the book.

TNBT: What genre does your book fall under?

Poetry

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

A movie rendition of a poetry collection written by an Armenian woman? I don’t see Dreamworks shelling out the big bucks for that, but let’s play with this idea just for the fun of it.

I would want whoever cast “I’m Not There” (the Bob Dylan bio-pic) to cast the movie. Patti Smith would have to make an appearance, either as God or my mother. Or both. PJ Harvey would play my alter ego, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club would provide the soundtrack and Jack White would play the devil or God. Or both.

TNBT: What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

You want to throw stones at a mirror? I am your mirror, and here are your stones. (Rumi) That’s two sentences, but it’s Rumi, so we’ll let it slide.

TNBT: How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I am still writing the first draft. I have been writing the first draft since the day I was born. I think it’s time to move on.

TNBT: Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I will give you the boring answer here. The MFA program I was attending required it, and I wanted to experience the process of putting one together. I produced something for that purpose at that point, but I was not happy with it as a piece that would live on for all posterity, so I am hanging onto it for a while until it’s ready. It’s past due, I know.

TNBT: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

The title is Dogmata. It was going to be Gnosis, but I figured it would be hard for people to pronounce. Dogmata might change again though. There’s a movie with that name out there, and I don’t know yet if that would be a good or bad thing. The movie is by Kevin Smith, and it’s one I actually enjoyed because of all the religious and dark humor, but in terms of search engine data and such, I am not sure how much that association would help or hurt my little project, so we’ll see.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I am weighing a couple of options at this point. I have heard great things about Red Hen Press and Write Bloody Press who have both published writers who I know and admire. Copper Canyon is one I’ve always appreciated for their selections. Once I feel ready, I’ll reach out to some of these places and hope for the best.